New to REI? You are automatically invited to the 3 way.

You start at the "mentor" group or "real estate mastermind" club and they are heavy on the surface information about real estate. Pumping up the crowd about the tax advantages and massive ROI you can gain in real estate...and of course more classes that they offer in packages from 5k-50k. All along almost none of the staff w/in actually does real estate of any kind, they will refer you to wholesalers that they bring in, because those companies pay, to convince these newbs that you don't even have to locate a deal. They work with these groups of "wholesalers" ​and assure you that they can find you a deal. 

Then you get some "deals" sent over by this company claiming to have contracts on legit properties with reasonable equity to recapture. They rush you, as these deals go fast and you need to put down a deposit. Now, they tell you to check the comps and the rehab numbers but most of their clients are newbs and have no clue how to go about that; after all they were referred by their guru and told to trust this "wholesaler".

Of course most people have no money so the only way to do the deal is with hard money. Lucky enough your "guru" AND your "wholesaler" all work together and sure enough the hard money company says they will do your loan. Now, you are new and the risk is high so they will require it be recourse, and money will need to be put down, and proof they can fund the rehab in part, and every other thing a traditional loan would require...but with a higher payment. 

Well now the "Guru" and the "Wholesaler" and the "Hard Money" have all set you up to be ready to start your project without enough money, ridiculous payment terms,  and no access to trades that will work for the budget you have been given. Of course they don't refer trades the way they refer each other, because you must remember that they don't need trades. They dont' do real estate.